Early 70's Grey Bilge Paint - What Type?

I have a 1973 Ericson 25 and all of the interior bilge and locker areas are painted grey. From my reading on the threads it appears this is the factory color, and from the looks of my boat the original factory paint. Seems common to Ericson's of that era.

Does anyone know what type of paint Ericson used? I couldn't find a reference to it on the forum, and tried several searches.

I am curious from a compatibility standpoint if I paint over it. I noticed that in a few places where I accidentally dripped some epoxy on the grey paint the epoxy did not stick. The epoxy hardened up fine and bonded great where I sanded down to expose the fiberglass, but the drips popped right off the grey paint. Nice for an accidental drip, but not such a good sign for adherence if I paint over it.

I figure lot's of you have encountered this before and have already solved the paint type mystery.

Interesting. By the time they finished out our boat they were using gray gel coat, brushed on.

Roughed up with some 80 grit and wiped down with acetone, the surface bonds readily to epoxy.

Loren

Dunno... the PO left a nice, leaky can of epoxy for me inside the settee. Impossible to clean out. I finally just laid some butcher paper over it, after getting permanent smears of epoxy on the autotiller, my percolator, the boathooks... I'm not positive that I would know paint from gelcoat. I do find it a little spooky that light shines through the boot stripe and the cove stripe. And the first time (OK, the only time.) I sanded down the bottom to expose some blisters, it looked like the bottom was full of holes :0. Except where that gray paint covers the inside.

"I can see clearly now..."

toddster said:

Dunno... the PO left a nice, leaky can of epoxy for me inside the settee. Impossible to clean out. I finally just laid some butcher paper over it, after getting permanent smears of epoxy on the autotiller, my percolator, the boathooks... I'm not positive that I would know paint from gelcoat. I do find it a little spooky that light shines through the boot stripe and the cove stripe. And the first time (OK, the only time.) I sanded down the bottom to expose some blisters, it looked like the bottom was full of holes :0. Except where that gray paint covers the inside.

Click to expand...

If you take away the inside paint or gel coat, or outside color in the surface gel coat, your boat (anywhere it is not cored) will be translucent. Disconcertingly so. Also, the layup poly resin can have little places where there it is almost clear, after all these decades -- I have found a couple of small spots/dots where dim light shows on a sunny day outside when I had the hull ceilings off forward.

Back in Ye Olden Days, builders like Cal Boats would, if asked, leave off the outer color pigment in a forward hatch area on their small sailboats to provide some illumination inside. (My guess is that in the 60's they might not have been as aware that that this idea would also lead to accelerated UV degradation of the layup is such an area.)

Related note: I was visiting aboard the Pac Cup winning Cascade 36 Raindrop when the ceilings were out and hull work was going on, and the whole quarter berth hull section was semi translucent. Then color was sprayed on.
https://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2008-07-28#.VT-UEykxap4


Loren

What bilge paint?

Guys, Interesting, neither our former boat, a 1979 E25+ or our present boat, a 1979 eE31 had any bilge paint at all. AS work progressed on both boats in unpainted areas, the last thing to do before wrapping up would be to break out a can of Interlux Bilgekote gray. Now most all of the visible parts of the insides of the hull are covered. Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey CA

Cyclops Thru Hull Abandonment

This image illustrates Loren's contention that removing the interior/exterior gelcoat will allow the hull to be translucent. This a view from exterior to interior, after grinding/sanding the exterior to accept fiberglass matt to fill the hole from the now obsolete/illegal (at least in the Great Lakes NDZ) head discharge thru hull.

Almost mesmerizing, almost...

There's light out there.

Loren, A slip neighbor with a Capitol Yachts, Newport 30 had just such a forward hatch and just like you said, it deteriorated and glass fibers started shredding off and were very irritating to the skin. The owner mixed u a small batch of West System 105 and "repainted" that hatch which cured it for at least the decade the boat remained nearby. I also remember 40 or more years ago having that same experience of going into the V-berth of a Choy Lee Frisco Flyer and seeing sunlight coming in through the cracks of the ceiling slats. Glyn

When I replaced my fuel tank I took advantage to paint the areas under and around the tank while it was out. I also painted inside of the Lazarette and under the Lazarette hatch, also under the quarter berth.

I used Interlux gray Bilgekote, which seems to adhere to just about anything. It dries pretty glossy and it is easy to clean. Prior to all this, everything was filthy with 40 years of dust and soot. I just washed down everything with soap and water first. Then wiped down with a little Acetone.

http://www.jamestowndistributors.co...ux_bilgekote&gclid=CKCt2JeymcUCFQwcaQodRVoApg

My year the seat lids, anchor locker hatch and so on had a tan covering, either paint or gel coat.

I cleaned with Fantastic and painted with one-part Interlux Brightside Hatteras Off White, for a good bond and long-lasting result. Same with the bilges, where the bond remains good.

olsenjohn said:

I have a 1973 Ericson 25 and all of the interior bilge and locker areas are painted grey. From my reading on the threads it appears this is the factory color, and from the looks of my boat the original factory paint. Seems common to Ericson's of that era.

Does anyone know what type of paint Ericson used? I couldn't find a reference to it on the forum, and tried several searches.

I am curious from a compatibility standpoint if I paint over it. I noticed that in a few places where I accidentally dripped some epoxy on the grey paint the epoxy did not stick. The epoxy hardened up fine and bonded great where I sanded down to expose the fiberglass, but the drips popped right off the grey paint. Nice for an accidental drip, but not such a good sign for adherence if I paint over it.

I figure lot's of you have encountered this before and have already solved the paint type mystery.

Click to expand...

John,

You might have already seen these articles on my blog, but just for the record, I will post links to them here. I also wish I knew more about that gray paint that appears all over the place in my E25 - VBerth lockers, hanging locker, settee lockers, bilge, and lazarette. It's some tenacious stuff in my boat. Early in my refitting I painted Benjamin Moore oil based paint on top of the gray in the space behind my galley cabinets. I did all the essential prep work - acetone, TSP, light sanding of the paint (for tooth), acetone, rinse, rinse, and re-rinse. Despite my efforts, this paint has not bonded well to the original gray paint. After that, I used Pitthane - a two part polyurethane in other areas of the boat, specifically, the VBerth lockers, the hanging locker, the space under the galley sink, and the lazarette. This stuff is the bomb, and it's much cheaper than "marine" two part polyurethanes. They use it at a boatyard near my house all the time.

http://www.ericson25.com/2013/07/lazarette-modifications-part-5-dry.html

http://www.ericson25.com/2014/11/lazarette-modifications-part-10-initial.html

Roscoe
E25, #226
Oystercatcher

Thank you everyone

Thanks for all the feedback. I never considered that it might not be paint and could be gelcoat. As Roscoe stated it is tenaciously bonded everywhere and tough to sand down, and forget about chipping it up. Except in the chain locker where it is crazed and cracked and peeling up in a mess. But it is stained and dirty after 42 years and I want to clean it up with a fresh coat.

I think I will try testing out some gelcoat in a small area against the paint Roscoe suggests. See which one bonds better and is easier to use.

Thanks for the link Roscoe, I had read about that paint in your blog and it looks great. You do really nice work.

Interesting discovery this past weekend. I was sanding down the outside cabin trunk to fair in some repairs and was surprised to see the grey "paint" or more likely gel coat underneath. It was a gentle feathering and showed the white paint from the PO, then the cream factory gel coat, then another grey layer which I also assume to be a gel coat. Then of course the polyester mat. The color looked identical to the grey on the inside bilges.

Leaves me to believe it is gel coat on the inside as well as some of you have suggested. Perhaps they did the grey layer to provide better hiding before laying the mat.